This is the second TwinsFest for Miguel Sano, but the power-hitting third baseman is hoping it won’t be too long before he returns to Target Field.

“I want to play in the big leagues this year,” Sano said Friday at TwinsFest.

Smiling, the Twins’ No. 2 prospect drove the point home.

“Yeah, this year,” he added with emphasis.

Sano doesn’t turn 21 until May, and incumbent Trevor Plouffe recently agreed to an arbitration-avoiding salary of $2.35 million for 2014, but the odds of Sano reaching his goal improved slightly with a pair of recent developments.

For starters, there’s his first nonroster invitation to big-league spring training, which he will attend along with fellow Twins super prospects Byron Buxton and Alex Meyer. What does Sano hope to show Twins brass?

“I want to show them everything at spring training,” Sano said. “I want to show I can compete.”

Better still, Sano’s ailing right (throwing) elbow has improved with rest. After a strained ulnar collateral ligament ended his Dominican Winter League season after just two games in mid- October, Sano didn’t throw again until reporting to the Twins’ spring facility in Fort Myers, Fla., on Jan. 6.

“My elbow feels pretty good right now,” Sano said. “I’m throwing again. I threw a little bit in Florida, three or four days.”

Sano said his sessions have progressed to the point at which he is playing catch from 90 feet. He is making three sets of 20 throws at a time.

The Twins haven’t ruled out Tommy John surgery if his throwing elbow doesn’t keep improving, but Sano was emphatic when asked if he was sure he wouldn’t require surgery on his elbow.

“For me, no surgery,” he said. “I’m sure.”

The Twins might have other ideas, but Sano is determined to work through a problem that was described as “arm fatigue” as far back as early July, when he was playing at Double-A New Britain.

He hit off the tee in Florida and again Thursday and hopes to be cleared to take full batting practice when he returns to Fort Myers early next week. Position players take the field in less than a month (Feb. 21), but Sano said he hoped to be full-go by that point.

Despite the frustration of this prolonged absence, Sano used his 2 1/2 months of downtime to improve his overall fitness.

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